Machacks

On this page you can find a few hacks for MacOS users.

Open Vplot files with Double Click

This actually requires an application. MacOS cannot use shell scripts as applications, and the application also needs to be able to parse arguments (needed for the double click funcionality - the instigating file becomes the first argument). The below steps will turn a simple python script into an Application. First, install py2ap and then follow the below instructions (based on a website of MooSystems).

1. Use the following python file (named ClickPen.py). Adapt the sfpen path as needed, or use an environmental variable:

#!/usr/bin/env python
# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
"""This piece of code shows how to accept 'Open Document' Apple Events in
your Python / Tk application."""

import os
import sys
import commands
import logging
import logging.handlers

# configure logging
home_dir = os.path.expanduser('~')
log_file = os.path.join(home_dir,
                        "Library/Logs/CliclPen.log")
log = logging.getLogger("main")
log.setLevel(logging.DEBUG)
handler = logging.handlers.RotatingFileHandler(log_file,
                                               maxBytes=30000000,
                                               backupCount=10)
handler.setLevel(logging.DEBUG)
fmt = logging.Formatter('%(asctime)s - %(message)s')
handler.setFormatter(fmt)
log.addHandler(handler)

# callback which gets invoked when files or folders are sent to our app:
def doOpenFile(*args):
    for f in args:
        if os.path.isfile(f):
            command = '/opt/RSF/bin/sfpen %s'%(f)
            commands.getoutput(command)
        else:
            log.info("'%s' is not compatible." % f)

# when the app starts up, check for command-line arguments:
for f in sys.argv[1:]:
    doOpenFile(f)

1. Use the following setup file (named setup.py):

"""
This is a setup.py script generated by py2applet

Usage:
    python setup.py py2app
"""

from setuptools import setup

APP = ['ClickPen.py']
DATA_FILES = []
OPTIONS = {'argv_emulation': True,
           'plist': {
                'CFBundleDocumentTypes': [{
                    'CFBundleTypeName': "File suffix of my app's documents",
                    'CFBundleTypeRole': "Editor",
                    'LSHandlerRank': "Owner",
                    'LSItemContentTypes': ["ClickPen"],
                }],
                'UTExportedTypeDeclarations': [{
                    'UTTypeConformsTo': ["public.data"],
                    'UTTypeIdentifier': "ClickPen",
                    'UTTypeDescription': "File suffix of my app's documents",
                    'UTTypeTagSpecification': {'public.filename-extension': ".vpl"}
                }],
                'CFBundleIdentifier': "ClickPen",
                'CFBundleName': "ClickPen"
            }
          }

setup(
    app=APP,
    data_files=DATA_FILES,
    options={'py2app': OPTIONS},
    setup_requires=['py2app'],
)

1. Run the following command:

python setup.py py2app

1. Now in the dist folder you should find a ClickPen.app program. Use it wisely.